i tried to play a video and all it showed was different color lines, but i could still hear the music because it was a music video.

It is possible that the video files are in a format that your player doesn't support. According to the SonyStyle website, your player supports the following video formats: AVC(H.264/AVC), MPEG-4, Windows Media Video 9, AAC-LC (for AVC, MPEG-4), WMA (for Windows Media Video 9).

One program you might try is Media Go. It is available for download from the Sony Style website (http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/...efault_enu.asp) and it is able to convert the video files into a format appropriate for your player. It can also handle other video, music and photo tasks.